Energy Chiefs in UK Remain Committed To Nuclear Power

By Cynthia Taylor

Following the announcement that Germany is to close its nuclear plants by the year 2022 North-East energy chiefs has urged the government to safeguard jobs in the North East region by asking them to keep faith with nuclear power.

They said that Hartlepool power station boost the economy by bringing in an estimated £30m. They also stated that there were 535 full time employees and approximately 150 contract workers dependent on the power station.

EDF, the plant operator, is also considering building a new power station for Hartlepool that is expected to create 3,000 temporary posts over the five year building programme.

Chancellor Merkle’s decision to close nuclear plants is prompted by anti-nuclear protests throughout Germany as well as lobbying by the Green Party following the catastrophe that resulted at the Fukushima facility in Japan during March this year. This has also re-ignited the debate about nuclear energy and the long-term future of this sector.

Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s energy minister has said that this move promotes more weight to SNP’s for their plans for north of the border to generate all energy from renewals, using wind and solar power within the next 10 years.

Mr. Ewing stated that Scotland does not need a ‘new generation’ of nuclear plants across Scotland and that it is ideally placed to become ‘a green energy powerhouse’.

However, George Rafferty, who is chief executive of NOF Energy, based in Durham, a business development organisation covering nuclear, gas, oil and offshore wind sectors has accepted that renewables can play a major role but the stated that it is only part of a diverse ‘energy mix’.

Mr Rafferty said that Germany’s announcement was a surprise but that NOF Energy members still believed that this country is best served by a balance of renewables, hydrocarbon and nuclear, he further stated that messages from Westminster supports this view.

He also said that should Britain follow Germany’s lead, and he did not believe that they will, existing sites would have to be decommissioned, he said that process would mean an major undertaking and that it would provide companies across North-East with some significant contract opportunities. However, he does not believe that it is a viable option for the UK.

As a result of the disaster in Japan, British nuclear operations were reviewed and found that current safety measures were adequate, but that there was a call for a detailed look at areas that covered coolant systems, electrical and flood protection.

The findings were welcomed by Mr Rafferty and he believes that there is an onus on the nuclear industry to be able to reassure the public that nuclear is an efficient and safe option he further reiterated that because of Fukushima, the nuclear industry has a responsibility to get the safety message across.

He mentioned that the next generation of reactors will have a much more rigorous set of safety measures than the situation at the Fukushima reactor, and that what happened there was a culmination of situations that are particular to that part of the world, and that it was unlikely to happen in the UK.